Air-vent valve.



G. D. HOFFMAN.

AIB VENT VALVE.

.APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 16, 190e.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE D. HOFFMAN, OF WESTERN sPmNosQILLINOIs, Assioma To NORWALL MANU- FACTURING cOMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A cOnPOaATION 'Or ILLIxOIs.

AIR-VENT VALVE Specification o! Letters Patent.

Patented Occ. '13, 190s.

Application tiled August 16, 1906. Serial No. 330,769.

To dll whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE I). HOFFMAN, a citizen of the 4United States, residing;r at lVestei-n Springs, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and use- "exact description of'the same, such as will enable others skilled in the 'art to which it ertalns to make and use the same, reference cumr had to the accompanying drawings,

' which forni a part of this specification.

It is well known that the lower the pres-v sure to which water issubjected the lower will be the temperature necessary to, convert the water'into steam. It is frequently desirable in steam heating systems tO maintain the lowest pressure practicable in order that Vsteam may be more quickly generated and circulated throughout the system. This result is' accomplished by preventing the admission of air to the system when the condensation-of steam therein has produced a ressure lessthan that of the atmosphere. n order thaty air may be positively and effectively prevented from entering.;r the system when the pressure therein is less than that of the atmosphere, it is necessary that-the port leadn from the system to the atmosphe're shou d be tightly closed at the time the pressure in the system falls below the atthe atmosphere.

-mospheric pressure, otherwise when the decreasin pressure in the system passes below atmosp eric pressureair will be gradually drawn into the syst-em thereby preventing a pressure in the system lower than that 'of The primary Vobject of my invention is to rovide. a steam heating system with means or permittin the air in the system to be ex- ',pelledir and return .of air into thel system upon the condensation of the steam.

or effectively preventing the ,Afrthergobet ofm invention is to proment'. or steam radiators air therefron when the generated steam causes a ypressurejalightly above that of the atmosphere, and which will positively pre- -duced a partial.vacuum.

A further object of my invention is to irovide a device adapted to be attached to radiator air vent valves which will permit the passage therethrough ot' air from the radiator but will prcvent'thereturn of aii to the radiator upon the condensation of the steam therein.

still further object of my invention is to provide'a device of the character described which will he simpleiu construction. inexpensive iii manufacture, and eliicieut in use.

vl invention, 'generally described, consists of a vacuum attachment adapted. to be secured to an air vent valve and comprising a normally` seated valve controllingr a port leading t'rom the air vent valve to the atmosphere. means t'or ini-seating the valvc when pressure of steam in the system with which the air vent valve communicates slightly exceedsthe atmospheric pressure. and means for automatically seating the valve and retainingr the same seated when the pressure'in the s vslcni fallsl :l predeterniiiicd i'lcgrcc.

M v invention t'nrthcr consists in an iinproved air vent valve't'or radiators comprising a float chainbei' communicating with the radiator, a float within said chamber controlling;r a vent port, and an air chamber located above the Hoat Vchaniber and communicatin; r therewith near the bottom thereof.

My invention will be more fully described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the same is illustrated as embodied in a convenient and practical form and in which Figure 1 is a central sectional view; Fig. 2 a plan view, the capA on the cover having been removed; Fig. 3 a plan view of the under side Of the vacuum attachment disconnected from the vent valve. and Fig. l an elevational view of a modified means Of connecting the vacuum attachment to the -vent valve.

The same reference characters are used to.

top of the cylinder' ao,y as ,to -form an air chamber communicating with the spacebetween the cylinder an A1 iloat'B is located within the cylinder i andv 'es at its upper end a valve b adapted to coperate with a valve seat bformed on -the under surface of the upper end a of the' cyl' inder Al` A tube B projects above the valve 'seat b' and communicates with :the

port therethrough. The lower end of the tube B is supported in a seat in the end wall a of the cylinder, while its u per end extends through the end wall A o? ing A and is supported bya surrounding flange a3, The lower end of the casing.' is

closed by a cap A* surrounding-and inv screw-threaded engagement therewith. A pin a* is provided u on the cap A which serves as a stop for vlimiting the downward movement 'of the float B.

A2 designates a coupling through which extends a passage-way from the interior of the lcylinder The couplin cured around an openin in t e cylinder A and extends throught e casing A.y The end ofthe coupling which projects through the casing is exteriorly. screw-threaded and is adapted to be attachedto a radiator by means ofan interposed coupling Aa2 one end of which surrounds and is in screw-threaded engagement with the end of the coupling A2 whilev its other end is adapted to engage-a screw-threaded hole in a radiator coil.

The device above described'constitutes an automatic air' vent valve which operates as follows: During the first opera-tion the air inlthe radiatorpasses freely 'throughthe va ve. it coildenses, gradually filling the float chamber formed therein below the couplin' Also that the float is lifted and the valve closedaganst the cooperating seat thereby closing the vent port. The heat of the steam within the cylinder expands the air in the ail' chamber between the upper ends of the cylinder and casing and also theair within the space between the side walls of the cylinder and casing which constitutes an extension of the air chamber; a portion of the air is consequently expelled through the `hole a and passes through the vent port. When the steam in the radiator is cut olf the air in the air chamber contracts and draws the water from the tloat chamber through the port n. allowing the tloatto fall and opening the vent port. lVhen steamV isagain turned on to the radiator anyair therein is expelled through the vent. opening, vsuch opening be ing immediately 'closed after the expulsion of the air by the 'steam expanding the air in the nir chamber and forcing the water from the spat-r between the cylinder and casing 'flange C' around its A2 is .se--

flan ll'hen steam enters the cylinder A threaded enlarged Gportion g whic rounded by a nut' vto secure aA close lit between Seat.'

into the float chamber and thereby elevating the oat and closing the valve.

' Vacuum attachment-M im roved vacnum-attachment which is a a to be used in with any form of automatic air vent valve auch .for instance, as that above described, comprises a base plate C sup ported u the upper end of the valve cas- A-,ls y melnszof a c surrounding in screw-threaded enga ment with the upper end of the'casing. he base-plate C is provided with an upwardly projecting riphex upon, which is supported a diap ragm The diaphragm is preferably concave and formed of resilient metal. The diaphragm may be con veniently supported yuon the base-plate by Y means of a peri hera flange surrounding the flange C; gup rted above the vdiaphragm vis a= stop p ate E also preferably slightly concave .and su ported above the diaphragm by means Vo ears e dependingfrom its periphery and ging the flange around the dlaphragm.. e sto plate may be .corrugated as indicated .in crease its strength.

H indicates a cover removably supported upon thebasejC by means of a dependi H The cover H has a holen through which extends a stem F su porting at its lower'end a ball valve f, e latter being .located below the diaphragm and cooperating' with a seat formedl by a Bange d in the diaphragm.

around a central opening The stem F-extends loose y through ahole in' ig. 1 to in-v the stop plate E and projects within a'chamber h formed in the cover H. The chamber 71, is closed by a removable cap .H' which may be conveniently formedwxth an interiorly screw-threaded flange an `exterior'screw-thread on thefwallirun the chamber.

The end A h is provided with an exteriorly Y is sur- The lower end of the nut G rests u n the lower -wall of the chamberhf aroun the hole h therethrough. The lnutis provided -with aared portion, as' shown 1n Fig. 2,- which tsloosely within notches. in' the wall of the chamber h' so as to prevent rotation of the nut within the chamber, but .so as to permit oscillation of the stem.

By supporting the nut G loosely within the chamber h' it is permitted tooscillate of the stem -Fwithin the chamber screw-- slightly and thereby insure the valve ff closely seating againstthe flange d. If the valve f were not supported so as to be slightly oscillatory it would beimpossible the same and its The operation of my improved vaciiilni valve is as follows: The diaphragm D normally engages the ball-valve -f but upon its iso tra"

under surface being exposed to pressure slightly greater than that of the atmosphere it is lifted so as t-o move the flan d away from the valve f tliereb permitting the venting of air from the cy inder A' through the diaphra ni and Athence to the atinos- )here tlirouv the space formed between the ilanre H of the cover and the flange C of the base plate lugs e on the stop posed between the anges on the diaphragm and on the cover, as indicated iii Fig. When the pressure in the system falls to a predetermined degree, preferably to a point sli litly above atmosphericpressure.

C, such space being due to the -thediap iragm is deflected downwardly so as to again force the seat l thereon against theball-valve The admission of air to the cylinder and thence to the radiator when the pressure in the system is below the atmosphere lis consequently prevented. The position of the valve f relativel Y to the di'aphragm may he readily adjiiste by rotating a the enlarged portion r/ on the upper end of the stem relatively to the surrounding nut G. In this manner the opening'and closing of the' port through the diaphragm' may be accurately regulated. Y l

'The vacuum attachment may be connected to the vent valve by an interposed elbow K :is-shown in Fig. 4. By the employment of an elbow the vacuum attachment occupies a position at one side of the` vent valve so that the coupling Ai may be engaged directly with the hole in the radiator witliou`t-the necessity' of interposing an additional couplin" glas is necessary when the vacuum attachment is located directly above the vent valve as shown in Fig. 1. The elbow at one end engages within the flange fon the baseplate C of the vacuum attachment while its other eiid alines with the upper end of the casing of the vent valve and is secured thereto in any suitable manning-as by'mear'is of a ring L having interior right and left screwtlireads engaging exterior screw-threads op the upper end A3 ofthe casing` and the lower end of the elbow.

From the foregoing description it will be observed that I have ,invented an improved vacuum attachment for steam heating systeni's which may be readily attached to an automatic air vent valve and by means' of which air may be expelled 4from the system whenthe pressure therein is slightly above atmospheric pressure, but which will effectively prevent the admission of airvto the system when the pressure therein has fai-len to a pre-determined degree, thereby'preventingthe )artial vacuum formed in the systcin by tlie condensation of the steam being destroyed.

It. will also be observed 'that I haveinvented an -improvedl automatic air valve for radiators which is extremely sensitive owing late E which are inter-v to the enlarged air chamber the expansion and contraction of air within which controls the opening and closing of the vent port.

' Havin now fully described my invention, what I c aim as new and .desireto secure by Letters Patent is: a

1. A valve for steam heating systems comprising a diaphra m having a Aport threthrough, means or `supporting said diaphragm in position to expose one surface thereof to rassure` in the system, and the other side t ereof to atmospheric pressure, a valve coperating with sai port to open and close the same, and means extending through said port for supporti said valve-in position to be engaged an ndisengaged by the posite side of the diaphragm, sai opposite side of the diaphragm being exposed to the atmosphere, a valve cooperating with said port to open and close the same, and means supported by said cover and .extending through the port in said diaphragm for supporting said valve in position to'be engaged and disengaged by the diaphragm.'-

A va ve for steam heating systenis comprising a diaphragm one surface of which is concave and the other surface of which is convex, said diaphragm having a port therethrough, means for'supporting said phragm in position to expose its. convex surace to pressure in-the system and its concave surface to pressure of the atmosphere, a. valve coperating with said 'port to open and close the same, astop plate -supported above said diaphragm to limit its movement, ang means extending through said stop plate an said port for sup orting ,said 'valve in position to beengaged) the diaphragm.

4. A valve for steam. heating" systems comprising a .concavoconvex diaphragm having a ort therethrough, the concave surface o said diaphragm being exposed to the atmosphere, `a"base-plate upon 4which said diaphragm is mounted and through vwhich its convex surface is exposed to pressure in the system, a stop plate 4located in' position to limit the movement of' s id diaphragm, a cover supported upon said aseplate andinclosing said stop plate, a valve ooperatin'g' with said .port to open 'and close 'the same, andmeans sup orted by' said cover and extending througllisaid stop plate and said' port forvsup ortin said -valve 'in position 'to be engage and sengaged by the diaphragm.

5.v A' valve for steam heating, systems com- :iprising a diaphragm 'having a port there-I' and disengaged by 'iso through, means for supporting said da-` phra'gm in positionlto expose one surface thereof to pressure yin the system and the other surface thereof to atmospheric pressure, a valve coperating with said ort to open and close the same, and an osci latoryrod extending through said port for sup ort- Y dise 6.

ing said valve in -position to be engage and ged by the diaphragm.

.valve for steam heating systems comai diaphragm having a throng a base-plate uson whic said diuphragm is mounted an through which one' surface thereof is exposed to pressure in theY system, the other surface of said diaphragm being ex osed to the atmosphere, a cover supporte upon said base-plate and inclos-4 in the atmospheric side of the diaphragm, Va va ve coperating with said port to open and close the same, an oscillatory rod extending through said ort for supporting the valve in position to e engaged and disengaged by the dia hragm, and means for supporting said ro upon said cover.

7'. A valve for steam heating systems comprisi i a resilient diaphragm having a port there rough, a base-plate lupon which said diaph m 1s mounted and through which one' su `e .thereof is exposed to pressure in the system, the other surface of .said da.-

ort there-v phragm being exposed to the atmosphere, a

valve coperating with said port toopen and close the same, an oscillatory rod extending through said port for sup ortin'g said valve in position to 4be engage and disengaged a ve -by thediaphragm, a support for said v mounted upon said base plate on the op site side of said diaphragm from said va ve,

and means for connecting said rod 4to said Y support.. f

8. In an automatic vent valve having an inlet'and an outlet, the combination with a.

float for controlling the outlet, of a cylinder forming a lioat chamber within which said loat is located, a casing surrounding and spaced apart from .said cylinder to form an alr chamber between the upper ends of said cylinder and casin said air chamber communica-ting with sald float chamber near the bot-tom thereof through the space between said cylinder and casing,l and a tube extending through said air chamber with which said outlet communicates. Y

In testimony whereof, .I sign this specifi- 'cation in the p rcsenceof two witnesses.l

GEORGE D. HOFFMAN.

W ituesses l HERBERT E. Jonas, M. Of Wnuamex. 

